MONROVIA – Another officer has filed a harassment lawsuit against the city, claiming he was retaliated against by the police chief and other supervisors for cooperating with investigations into alleged police misconduct.

The federal lawsuit, brought by Monrovia Police officer Sergio Bostick, marks the fifth legal action taken against the police department alleging harassment or discrimination by police officials since 2005.

“Unfortunately the city of Monrovia has had quite a bit of litigation going,” said Sanjay Bansal, an attorney with Lackie, Dammeier & McGill, an Upland law firm representing Bostick. “Officer Bostick has suffered retaliatory action due to his outspoken behavior and this type of retaliation that the department has engaged in at the behest of the Chief is par for the course.”

Mayor Rob Hammond declined to comment for this story. Police Chief Roger Johnson did not return a call requesting comment.

Sergio Bostick filed the suit on Feb. 17 against the city, Monrovia Police Chief Roger Johnson, and two other police officials. In his complaint, Bostick claims he was harassed and passed up for promotions after testifying in another harassment lawsuit against the department brought by Michael Solarez, a former officer.

Solarez sued the department in 2005 alleging that police leaders harassed him after they discovered that he was gay. The city settled the lawsuit in 2007 for $242,500 and admitted no liability.

In 2006, Glenn Cobb, an African-American former officer, sued the department and alleged that he was harassed and discriminated against because of his race. The city again settled the lawsuit and paid Cobb $125,000. Cobb will also collect more than $30,000 per year in retirement benefits for the rest of his life under the settlement.

The next lawsuit against the department came in 2008 when a former jailer and police explorer claimed he was repeatedly harassed and sexually abused by police Sgt. Daniel Verna.

The plaintiff, Rudy Ramirez, said police officials did nothing to stop repeated sexual abuse and harassment from Verna and covered up a 2006 incident in Fish Canyon where Verna was found by Sheriff’s deputies inside a parked car with a known gang member. Verna and the alleged gang member were detained but Verna was not booked.

A fourth officer, Matthew Thompson, sued the department last year, claiming he was harassed for cooperating in Cobb’s lawsuit. That case is still in court.

Bostick’s lawsuit alleges that he was harassed and passed up on a promotion to sergeant after he testified in Solarez’s case and asked questions about the incident in Fish Canyon.

Chief Johnson “made demeaning remarks and expressed anger towards Bostick” after he spoke with other officers about the Fish Canyon incident, the lawsuit alleges. He said he was told by Johnson several times to “let go” of the incident and that the department attempted to “stonewall” any investigation into wrongdoing by Verna.

Complaints of rampant harassment in the department prompted the city to hire a contractor in 2006 to investigate accusations made against Johnson. Private investigator Steve Stavely, the former Police Chief of La Habra, interviewed dozens of officers and concluded that the accusations were unfounded.